Welcome! My name is Karen Sobel, and I am a reference and instruction librarian at the
Auraria Library in downtown Denver, Colorado. The Auraria Library serves the populations
of the University of Colorado Denver (my official employer), Metropolitan State College of Denver, and the Community College of Denver, as well as the public.
My "Primary Job"
At Auraria, I perform library instruction sessions for freshman composition, English as a Second Language, psychology, and English literature courses. I also play a major role in instructional design efforts at the library.
Our "AskAuraria" IM-based reference service has increased in popularity almost continuously since its creation in July 2008. Along with our Web Librarian, Nina McHale, I continue to develop this offering. We have integrated it with our course pages and many other sites, so that students can communicate with librarians when and where they need them.
With Auraria colleagues Lorrie Evans and Gayle Bradbeer, I have developed a course for CU Online called "Navigating Library Research." The course focuses on general library research skills for students in all majors. The course is now available to students at all three Auraria Campus institutions. Contact me for information on the course.
I will undergo comprehensive review in 2010, so you may not see me online quite as often as usual. Please do feel free to get in touch, though!
A Special Honor
The Auraria Library has chosen me for its 2010 "Excellence in Service" award. I am now also a candidate for the same award at the university level. Thanks, everyone!
Research
Along with Meg Grotti of the University of Delaware, I am investigating the ways librarians across the country integrate WorldCat Local library catalogs into their library instruction. As many academic libraries, including Auraria, are switching to WorldCat Local systems, this work has exciting and practical implications for library instructors.
I am honored to have been invited to co-present a workshop on research, publication, and professional development at the American Library Association's 2010 Annual conference in Washington, DC with Lisa Carlucci Thomas. Our presentation will be titled "Starting Out? Start With You: What Every New Librarian Needs to Know." This session will be a greatly expanded version of our 10-minute presentation at ALA Annual 2009. Stay tuned (or contact me) for details!
Publications
(Under evaluation) Ferrer, Ignacio J. and Karen Sobel. "A Study of Master of Library Science Candidates and Librarians at a Practicum Site Library." Submitted to the Journal of Education for Library and Information Science.
(Forthcoming) Sobel, Karen and Kenneth Wolf. “Enhancement of Existing Tools for Assessment of Learning during Library Instruction.” Submitted to Reference and User Services Quarterly, Spring 2011.
(Forthcoming) “Stuck in the Middle with You,” Generation X: Perspectives on Librarianship (ed. Rebecca Tolley-Stokes), with Lisa Carlucci Thomas.
(Forthcoming) Sobel, Karen and Jeffrey Beall. "Humanities Research, Book Digitization, and the Problem of Linguistic Change." Submitted to the Journal of Electronic Publication.
(Forthcoming) Brown-Sica, Margaret and Karen Sobel. "User-Centered Design Planning in Learning Commons Design." Submitted to New LibraryWorld.
(Forthcoming) Sobel, Karen and Dr. Ignacio J. Ferrer-Vinent. "Academic Reference Serving a Diverse Student Body Thrives at the Auraria Library: A Case Report," Colorado Libraries.
Evans, Lorrie, Nina McHale, and Karen Sobel. “Apples and Oranges: Creating A Hybrid Virtual Reference Service with Proprietary Chat Reference Software and Free Instant Messaging Services.” In Reference Renaissance: Current and Future Trends. Ed. Marie L. Radford and L. David Lankes. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2010: 163-173.
Sobel, Karen. “Evaluating and Enhancing the Latino Literature Collection at UNC-Chapel Hill.” North Carolina Libraries 67: 1/2 (Spring/Summer 2009), 22-23.
Brown-Sica, Margaret, Karen Sobel, and Denise Pan. “Learning for All: Teaching Students, Faculty and Staff with Screencasting,” Public Services Quarterly. 5.2(April-June 2009), 81-97.
Sobel, Karen. “Promoting Library Reference Services to First-Year Undergraduate Students: What Works?” Reference and User Services Quarterly 48.4(Summer 2009), 362-371.
Evans, Lorrie, Nina McHale, and Karen Sobel. “Review: LibraryH3lp.” The Charleston Advisor. 10.4(April 2009), 25-29.
Evans, Lorrie, Nina McHale, and Karen Sobel. “Review: LibGuides.” The Charleston Advisor 10.3(January 2009), 47-49.
Presentations
- (Forthcoming) Panel Discussion: Options for virtual reference, currently untitled, Reference Renaissance, August 2010, Denver.
- Online Presentation, American Library Association Virtual Conference, 7 July 2010: "Starting Out? Start With You: What Every New Librarian Needs to Know." Reprise of our presentation from the American Library Association’s Annual Conference. (With Lisa Carlucci Thomas. )
- Presentation, American Library Association Annual Conference, 26 June 2010, Washington, DC: "Starting Out? Start With You: What Every New Librarian Needs to Know." (With Lisa Carlucci Thomas.)
- Presentation, Computers in Libraries, April 2010, Washington, DC: "Gen X Librarians: Leading from the Middle." (With Nina McHale and Lisa Carlucci Thomas.)
- Presentation, American Library Association New Members' Round Table, 11 July 2009, Chicago, IL: "Starting Out? Start With You: What Every New Librarian Needs to Know." (With Lisa Carlucci Thomas.)
- Denver Transfer Initiative: "Where is Your Future Without the Library?" Auraria Campus, 15 May 2009. With Lorrie Evans, Orlando Archibeque, Diane Turner, and Linda Tietjen.
- Panel Discussion: "Hot Topics in Frontline Reference," American Library Association Midwinter Conference 2009, with Lorrie Evans and Nina McHale
- "Apples & Oranges: A Comparison of Proprietary Chat Reference Software Versus Free Instant Messenger Services." Reference Renaissance, August 2008. (With Nina McHale and Lorrie Evans.)
- "Working Smarter, Not Harder: Teaching Students and Staff with Screencasting," American Library Association Annual Conference, June/July 2008. (With Meg Brown-Sica and Denise Pan.)
- "Why Do Freshmen Visit the Reference Desk?" Colorado Academic Library Consortium Summit 2008, 23 May 2008.
Past Honors
The Association of College and Research Libraries named me its Member of the Week for 15-21 September, 2008. Thanks, ACRL!
Education
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill:
Master of Science in Library Science, 2007
Master of Arts in English, 2004
The Pennsylvania State University:
Bachelor of Arts with Honors in English, 2002
Minor in Psychology, 2002
Personal
I am an avid reader, letter-writer, knitter, chef (more or less), ragtime pianist, classic movie buff, and hiker. My favorite authors are Isabel Allende, Mark Helprin, J.K. Rowling, Shirley Jackson, and above all, Salman Rushdie. My husband Eric and I live in the Rocky Mountain foothills west of Denver.
